“Money is what money does.” This economic fundamental explains how trillions of dollars can disappear overnight, just by simply stopping “doing”. Many of us think that somehow our governments have piles of gold equivalent to the paper notes in circulation, but there’s not a chance. There’s not enough gold on earth to back the world’s…
In my early days of legal practice, long before I had figured out anything, I was consulted by a client who wanted to sue nearly everybody in the world for suffering fibromalgeria. I’ll call her Abigail. Now, Abigail was a rather sympathetic soul, and my heart went out to her. She might have been pretty…
As everyone knows, America’s Republicans are striving to find ways to reduce spending so as to dish out yet more tax savings for the very rich. Those tax savings, in turn, will make their country stronger and wealthier, they say, because of the “trickle down effect”. This assumes that what trickles down from the outhouses…
There’s not a lot of good press about the Donald’s daddy. Apparently he was not a nice man, nor was he a very good father. That’s not to say he didn’t mean well for his children. But in raising kids, as in life, it’s not the intention that matters, it’s what you actually do. And…
About eight or ten years ago, when Trump was only a fake television tycoon and before he became a fake emperor, I bought one of his branded neckties on sale. At 50% off it was reasonably priced. It was red, of course. It was like any other necktie I owned, except that in true Donald…
The SS Royal William was built in Quebec City for John Molson and a syndicate of other shareholders, fitted with a steam engine in Montreal in 1831, and soon entered into packet service between Quebec and Halifax. Until 1839, the Royal William was the largest passenger ship in the world. In 1833 she crossed the…
“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” Quite true, but the important thing is to ask why anyone would put lipstick on a pig in the first place. You see, the lipstick guy has a goal: he wants to sell you his pig. But he knows you’re not in the…
Early in my legal career I represented a young rascal named Jean-Guy (not his actual name, but close enough). He was eighteen or nineteen, tall and skinny, and what you might call a “space cadet”. You’ll soon see what I mean. Jean-Guy and some friends had planned the ultimate heist. They were going to get…
It was a completely normal afternoon at the office– document drafting, research, instructions to staff and juniors, phone calls– all the routine stuff of a law office. Then normalcy had a trainwreck in the form of an unexpected call from my doctor’s office. “Mr. Bowley?” “Yes?” “Doctor Fletcher needs to see you tomorrow morning. We’re…
Bet you thought this was going to be about 2020. But it’s not, at least not directly. It’s about 1816. 1816 sucked. Really sucked. After years of war in Europe and North America, the world needed a break. It didn’t catch one, but instead caught nearly two years of misery, 1816 being the worst. As…